November 04, 2018

The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. Psalm 20:1-4

A LOVING HUSBAND

It is easy to submit to someone who loves you sacrificially. For a man to insist that his wife submit to his authority without earning her respect by putting her needs before his own, can only cause resentment. The Lord proved His love for His wife by giving Himself for her. He always speaks kindly to her. He is always tender and patient with her. He reminds her constantly how precious she is to Him. She in return, delights in submission to His loving authority. “Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it” (Ephesians 5:22-33).

Pastor Greg Elmquist

Only God can do that.

When I look at creation, in heaven above and on this earth I must confess, only God can do that. When I look at how such variety is working in such harmony in creation, I must confess, only God can do that. When I hear the gospel of Christ and Him crucified, how Christ was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him; how God the Father transferred all the sins of all the elect to God the Son, I must confess, only God can do that. Only God can cause such a transaction. When this sinner thinks of Christ with sweet affections, I must confess, only God can do that. When I think of dying someday and my body buried in the dust and someday God raising it a new body, I must confess, only God can do that. Behold, Jesus Christ is that God.

Pastor John Chapman

Old Bishop J.C. Ryle one of England’s greatest preachers said this; “I venture, the whole of my salvation on Christ crucified. I cast loosely, entirely, and completely from all other hopes. I do not rest on what I’m doing or what I’ve done or what I shall do. In the matter of my soul, salvation; Christ is all from beginning to end, from Alpha to Omega. He’s the author and finisher of my faith. My hope is in Him. Heaven is before me and Christ is the door. Hell is beneath me and only Christ can deliver. The law is against me and only Christ can honor it. Justice has a claim on me and only Christ can satisfy it. Death awaits me and only Christ can remove the sting. The grave is my destiny. Christ is my victory.”

(From a TV sermon by Pastor Henry Mahan, Sept. 1977)

“HE SHALL NOT FAIL”
Isaiah 42:4

We trust an undefeated and undefeatable Savior; “He shall not fail!” The Son of God can never be frustrated in his purpose, defeated in his design, or hindered in his work. Christ was not conquered at Calvary. He conquered. He did not die as the helpless victim of circumstances. He died as the Lord of all things, the one who rules all circumstances. And he will not be defeated in the end; “He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied!” The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. The Lion of the tribe of Judah must prevail. The Word of God universally proclaims the infallible efficacy of Christ’s atonement. That which the Son of God accomplished at Calvary was an effectual atonement for all the sins of God’s elect. The gospel of God is the revelation of the glorious, absolute, saving efficacy of Christ’s atonement. All for whom the Son of God suffered the wrath of God shall be made the righteousness of God in him!

Pastor Don Fortner

"By the grace of God, I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10)

The humble Christian will not be easily angered; nor will he be dogmatic and judgmental. He will be compassionate and tender towards the infirmities of his fellow-sinners; knowing, that, if there is any difference between himself and others; it is grace that has made it. He knows that he has the seeds of every evil in his own heart!
Under all trials and afflictions, the humble Christian will look to the hand of the Lord, and lay his mouth in the dust; acknowledging that he suffers much less than his iniquities have deserved.
These are some of the advantages and good fruits which the Lord enables us to obtain from that bitter root, indwelling sin.